Glasshouse strut

ABSTRACT

A strut used to support various specifications of glasshouse construction, comprised of multiple arms articulated to a fixture disk to support abutted glass blocks; each arm includes a primary rod, an extended rod and a suction base to allow adjustment of angles of the arm for adjusting the angles, and additional extended rod may be articulated for extra length of the arm to cope with individual construction of the glasshouse.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] (a) Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention is related to an articulated strut tosupport glass blocks in the construction of a glasshouse, and moreparticularly, to one that allows adjustment of angles and connection ofadditional sections depending on the requirements of angle and distancebetween abutted glass blocks to facilitate mounting of glass blocks andexpand range of application of the strut while significantly reducingthe production cost otherwise incurred in the manufacturing of struts invarious specifications.

[0003] (b) Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Glass blocks to be used for the construction of a glasshouse areusually provided in a given size and specification, mounted in sequencerespectively at a certain location, then glass strips are provided atwhere glass blocks are abutted to each other, finally a strut isprovided between abutted glass sheets. Once the glass strips aresufficient to support the glass blocks, the strut is removed for nextjob. However, the form and specification of the glasshouse vary, and sodo the angle and position of each glass sheet depending on theindividual structure of a glasshouse. Consequently, different forms andspecifications of struts have to be prepared to cope with theconstructional needs of a glasshouse. The strut of the prior art relatesto a fixture provided with a fixed arm each at its four corners, asuction is each attached to the distal end of the arm. The problem isthat the reach of the arm and the angle of the suction are both fixedmaking the strut not applicable to a smaller glasshouse or a glasshouseprovided with a dome. In such case, preparation of struts in variousforms and specifications resulting in increased constructional cost ofthe glasshouse. Furthermore, the constructional schedule is alwaysdelayed due to that in the course of construction, more time areconsumed in the selection and confirmation of the right strut to beused, meaning many man-hours and work processes are required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide animproved structure of a strut to facilitate the construction andimproves its range of applicability for the construction of aglasshouse. To achieve the purpose, an articulated strut comprised ofmultiple arms each extending from a fixture a primary rod and one ormore than one extended rod to allow adjustment of angles among theprimary rod, suction and extended rod is used, so that each arm of thestrut is able to change its angle as demanded by abutted glass blocks inthe course of the construction of a glasshouse.

[0006] Another purpose of the present invention is to provide animproved structure of a strut that allows adjustment of the anglebetween abutted arms of the strut as required in the filed application.To achieve the purpose, a swing for a proper angle is permitted while ashaft rod from the fixture is coupled into a hole in the primary rodbefore being locked in place by means of a bolt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 is a view showing the appearance of a preferred embodimentof the present invention.

[0008]FIG. 2 is an exploded view of multiple arms of the preferredembodiment of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing change of angle between aprimary rod and a suction of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0010]FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing that the preferred embodimentof the present invention is in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, a strut of a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention is comprised of multiple arms (1) articulated tofixture (2) to support abutted glass blocks (G). Wherein, the fixture(2) in a disk shape has provided at its center a shaft rod (21),multiple holes ( 22) in the disk base, and at its bottom attached with asuction (3).

[0012] As illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein, each arm (1) is comprised of aprimary rod (11), an extended rod (13) and a suction base (12)articulated among them. The suction base (12) relates to a blockstructure, provided with an insertion hole (121) to receive a suction(3) to attach to the glass block. A pivoting ear (122) is formed on theinner side of the suction base (12) and both ends of the extended rod(13) of each arm are respectively formed with a male pivoting ear (131)and a female pivoting ear (132) to be articulated with the suction base(12) and a primary rod (11) of the arm (1).

[0013] A hole (111) is provided in the primary rod (11) at one end to bearticulated with the shaft rod (21) from the fixture (2) while at theother end a female pivoting ear (122) is provided to be articulated withthe male pivoting ear (131) of the extended rod (13) or the malepivoting ear (122) from the suction base (12). Once the primary rod (11)has its female pivoting ear (112) to be articulated with the malepivoting ear (131) from the extended rod (13), a bolt (4) is used topenetrated through both of the female pivoting ear (112) and the malepivoting ear (131) to lock the primary rod (11) and the extended rod(13), then similarly, another bolt (4) is used to penetrate through andlock up both of the female pivoting ear (132) of the extended rod (13)and the male pivoting ear (122) of the suction base (122) to form acomplete arm (1). As illustrated in FIG. 3, the articulated arm (1)allows angle adjustment among the primary rod (11), the extended rod(13) and the suction base (12) to change the angle of the arm (1) asrequired. Meanwhile, each arm (1) also permits a swing for a properangle when articulated with the shaft rod (21) from the fixture (2) andthe hole (111) in the primary rod (11) before being locked up with thebolt (4) for adjusting the angle between abutted arms (1) to cope withthe constructional work requirements.

[0014] Furthermore, the female pivoting ear (112) of the primary rod(11) is disposed at a certain inclination in relation to the primary rod(11) to allow more changes available for the arm (1) in general. Whilethe length of the extended rod (12) may be that as desired, additionalextended rod (12) may be pivoted and locked to the existing extended rod(12) for the length as desired.

[0015] However, accompanying drawings and the specification disclosed donot restrict the scope of the present invention. It is to be noted thatany alternation made pursuant to the specification disclosed above, thestructural characteristics and function shall fall within the teachingof the present invention.

[0016] The present invention by allowing adjustment for proper anglesamong the primary rod, the extended rod and the suction base, andconnection of additional extended rod for the length as desired meetsthe support requirements of angle and distance between abutted glassblocks in the construction of a glasshouse so to improve convenience andapplicability of the strut, to significantly reduce costs resulted fromproduction of struts in various specifications, and to shorten theconstructional schedule.

I claim:
 1. A strut for construction of a glasshouse, comprised ofmultiple arms with each arm including a primary rod, an extended rodarticulated to a fixture to support abutted glass blocks; wherein, thefixture in disk shape being attached at its bottom a suction, a rodshaft at its center to retain the primary rod, and multiple holes in thesurface of the disk base; each arm including a suction base in a blockprovided with a suction and a male pivoting ear provided on its innerside; a primary rod having provided at its one end a hole to bearticulated with the shaft rod from the fixture while at its another enda female pivoting ear; and an extended rod having formed respectively atboth ends a male pivoting ear and a female pivoting ear to bearticulated with the suction base and the primary rod characterized bythat: the female pivoting ear from the primary rod being articulatedwith the male pivoting ear from the extended rod and then locked up witha bolt; the male pivoting ear from the suction base being articulatedwith the female pivoting ear from the extended rod and then locked upwith another bolt to complete a fully extended arm for the strut; theangle of each arm being changeable by adjusting the angles among theprimary rod, the suction base and the extended rod; each arm beingallowed a swing for a proper angle with a hole provided in the primaryarm being articulated with shaft rod of the fixture disk and then lockedwith a bolt to permit adjustment of the angle between abutted arms.
 2. Astrut for construction of a glasshouse as claimed in claim 1, wherein, ahole is each provided in the fixture disk and the suction base toreceive attachment of a suction.
 3. A strut for construction of aglasshouse as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the female pivoting ear fromthe primary rod is disposed at a certain inclination in relation to theprimary rod to allow expanded change of angle of the arm in general. 4.A strut for construction of a glasshouse as claimed in claim 1, wherein,additional extended rod is articulated between the primary rod and thesuction base for an extra length of the arm as required byconstructional work of the glasshouse.